Episode Reviews (9)

Jimmy's inevitable fate.

By brucebarber, Nov 29, 2013

It will be unfortunate to longer be able to appreciate Michael Pitt's performances, but watching his downward spiral was engaging TV, and his end at Nucky's hands, at this point, seemed logical to me. Also, from a practical point of view, the show has so many real-life characters who can't be killed off, it stands to reason that the writers would use one of the fictional characters invented for the show, such as Jimmy, for certain dramatic purposes. To finally see Nucky actually kill someone, someone who was actually important to him, I felt really added a new level to Nucky. The saddest thing is, it might only be Richard who will really miss him.moreless

about this episode

Disappointing...

By natesjokes, Jan 07, 2013

Although the episode was climatic, it was pretty disappointing to see the Jimmy arc end so soon. After a full season of a focus on Nucky, it was nice to have some change and made the show much more entertaining. Jimmy made the show much more fun to watch and I'm disappointed to see him go.

Fantastic!!!

By Pet-o, Nov 13, 2012

Too bad things went the way they did for Jimmy after sending some clan members to Chalky. I'd have to totally agree with "upyours13". However some of you clowns need to realize this is all based on real events. Jimmy died when he was supposed to. Duh!

Thrilling end, but we saw it coming, didn't we?

By smhasnb, Jan 09, 2012

Mad Men set the trend for TV Studios to go back in time to produce an eye-catching drama. Many attempts have been made, some woefully failing (The Playboy Club on NBC, utter disaster), some staying in mediocrity (Pan Am), while some lived up to expectations from their stellar cast & crew and delivered the goods. Boardwalk Empire (B.E.) was a winner from the moment Scorsese put his hands on it. Debuting in 2010, B.E made huge splashes in TV when it picked up the Golden Globe for Best Drama earlier this year for the first season (Scorsese won Emmy for Best Direction). It picked up where it left, with the 2nd season. Actually, it not only just picked up, it raised the bar and got very close to Breaking Bad. While the debut season was all about Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) in terms of the story of the show, as well as the drama as a whole. He was the protagonist, the orchestrator so to speak. He ran the town. Towards the end of the season, we saw his protg apparent, James 'Jimmy' Darmody (Michael Pitt) come of age, like a lion's cub growing up too fast. The sophomore season sees Darmody lock horns with his mentor. We see Jimmy's character grow exponentially. From being just the driver for Nucky, he becomes his biological father's (Commodore) right hand man, and later the shot caller when commodore falls ill. We also go deep into the history of James character and witness some disturbing events which shape the core of his character; his disgustingly odd relation with his mother, which forces him to join the army, where he saw some horrific scenes. It's interesting to note that before the 2nd last episode of the season 2, the viewers believed that it was his time at war which made him ice cold and lacking compassion. However, in this episode viewers see that it was his relation with his mother that caused him to be the way he is. The last 3 episodes of this season were extremely gripping and we see Jimmy go from the big shot to rock bottom. He loses everything he had ever loved. His wife and the love of his life murdered, he kills his father. In the last episode, which is incidentally named after Jimmy's catch phrase 'To the lost' Jimmy realizes his mistakes. He knows he was wrong to turn on Nucky, the person who made him who he was. He tries to make his amends but he knows it's a little late for that. So he says his good byes to the few he's leaving behind. Fittingly, it's Nucky, who puts two bullets through Jimmy's head. For more reviews please see my blog 'T.V et al' at http://syedhamzaali.tumblr.com moreless

Bad move

By Falco, Dec 27, 2011

Seems its turning into Nuckys Empire instead of Boardwalk empire, because killing of Jimmy just lost my interest in the show. The other characters are plain boring in comparison. In real life Jimmy Boyd lived until 1974 and the real Nucky never killed anyone.

Here was a man.

By upyours13, Dec 17, 2011

A hell of an end for one of my characters of the show. He went out on his own terms, coming unarmed and ready for death. His final scenes were very touching, especially the one with his son and Harrow and his conversation about returning from the war. It was a terrific death scene. "I died in the trenches years a go."

I feel bad that some people are quitting the show now, I mean I don't think it's the best show out right now, but it's still one hell of a great show. It's a gangster show, if you don't expect some main characters to die, then there would be nothing at stake. He had it coming, failing to kill Nucky and Manny both and not being able to take control of the booze trade. That's consequence. But I, too, would've loved to see Jimmy stick around for one more season. But even with his death, you can expect some strong stories next year. I mean Van Alden hanging out in Cicero, Al Capone will surely get some shit done there (maybe even with Van Alden). Harrow, the man with half a face, it'll be interesting to see what he does, seek blood or take care of Jimmy's family. There's also Nucky, while I'll admit I don't like him that much (but I do love Steve Buscemi), but you can be sure he's gonna look to fuck some people over. And then you got Manny, who's probably the most badass Jew with a cleaver ever. So there's still lots going on. With Jimmy's death, there's gonna be one new character, he'll never replace Jimmy but he'll sure add more depth/death to the show. To the lost.moreless

Fantastic end to the season - and quite possibly my farewell to the show.

By logossun, Dec 13, 2011

(spoilers ahead)

I don't often have these reactions, but here it is: the season was very good, the last episode superb - and it's quite possibly the last time I watch the series.

The out-of-character killing of James by Nucky was simply nauseating. It (together with the Margaret marriage sham) made him seem like a totally monstrous, unscrupulous character - and unless I'm led to believe he is for a longer period of time, like in case of Tony Soprano or Thomas Kane (Boss), it just seems odd, unnecessary and simply - wrong.It is also not in the vein of Sean Bean getting the sword in Game of Thrones; no, there it followed the narrative of the evil and corrupted. Here, the narrative pointed to redemption, not the evil in men. The death of James followed nothing, signified nothing - it was just thrown in there like a pathetic explosion of bad taste.I have no desire to follow the character of Nucky Thompson now - he holds no value - and in my opinion this screwed the entire series up. I'll take a look at the episode in which he gets killed, not before, I think. A great, great shame.moreless

Dear god why?

By Pazma, Dec 13, 2011

O.K. so they've just basically killed off my reasons for watching this show. Jimmy was undoubtedly the most interesting character in the show and I think I'm not alone in saying we were rooting for him to succeed, albeit with Nucky. They'll have to do something pretty spectacular in my view to compensate for his loss. Then to make matters worse they make Margaret Schroeder even more of a b**ch than she already was. I was instantly disappointed with her terrible accent to begin with, when she got with Nukcy I thought there might be some hope for the character but they made her a major pain along the way. Well, even more of a pain anyway. But her latest actions have put the final nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned. I'll watch next season to see where they go from here but I doubt I'll last long with it to be honest.moreless